Soyuz TMA-06M docks to ISS – boosts crew for busy period of activity

October 25, 2012 by Pete Harding

The Soyuz TMA-06M spacecraft, also known by its US designation of 32S, has docked to the International Space Station (ISS) on time at 12:29 PM GMT, boosting the station’s crew back up to six people for the first time since September 16. The extra crewmembers will be a welcome addition to the ISS, as the station moves into an upcoming week of unusually fast-paced operations.

The docking heralds the arrival at the ISS of three new crewmembers for the Expedition 33 crew – which prior to the docking consisted of NASA astronaut and ISS Commander Suni Williams, Japanese astronaut Aki Hoshide, and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko.

Some additional life forms will also make their way aboard the ISS following docking, in the form of some Japanese Medka fish, who will be housed in the newly commissioned Aquatic Habitat (AQH), which was recently delivered to the ISS aboard the Japanese HTV-3 supply ship in July.

After hatch opening and the traditional welcome ceremony, the three newcomers will receive a mandatory ISS safety briefing from their three colleagues, prior to being given some time to adjust to their new surroundings, unpack their kit, and set up camp in their respective crew quarters.

The newcomers will barely have time to settle in to their new home however, before a flurry of unusually fast-paced activity takes hold of the station for the next week.

Upcoming schedule:

Only three days after the Soyuz TMA-06M docking, the first in the series of activities will occur, when SpaceX’s Dragon capsule is unberthed from the ISS and splashes down in the Pacific Ocean a few hours later on October 28, bringing with it some vital downmass lost with the retirement of the Space Shuttle.

With another period of RRM operations occurring from November 28-29, the ISS will continue with the three-crew Expedition 34 for just over a month, until the docking of Soyuz TMA-07M/33S on December 21, which will boost the ISS back up to six crewmembers and round out the 2012 ISS flight events schedule, apart from the usual high volume of scientific activities that occur aboard the new fully utilised ISS on a daily basis throughout the year.

(Images via L2 and NASA).

(NSF and L2 are providing full high level space flight coverage, available no where else on the internet, from Orion and SLS to ISS and COTS/CRS/CCDEV, to European and Russian vehicles).